SubNautic Survival
by Gam1ngAdd1ct
Summary: Okay. Is this place dangerous? Oh yeah. Am I gonna sit and wait around to be rescued? Not on your life, pal. This...could be fun. Care to stick around and see what I call survival?
1. The Crash

SubNautic Survival

Chapter One:

The Crash

Quite honestly, I don't think I can describe the last 20 minutes without using the word shitstorm. Before that everything was fine. I was taking a nap on a bench with a good view of the stars through a nearby window. Now? Now I'm trying to patch holes on the maintenance deck of this tin can with alarms going off in my ears giving me a headache and people running around screaming their damn heads off! So yeah, NOT how I thought my day was going to go!

I looked around and saw that all the hole I had just patched had already blown back open and were bigger than ever. This was fucking USELESS! "Screw this." I mumbled.

I started running for the stairs that led to the upper decks and the escape pods. Look, this ship is going down and no amount of welding is gonna fix that. And I'll be damned if I go down with the ship. That ain't what I signed on for.

The escape pods were only a couple floors above the maintenance deck so it didn't take that long to get to them. It was strange, however, that none of them had launched. I can't be the first crew member to try and abandon ship. I ran to a random pod and yanked the hatch open, but I hesitated when I went to jump in. I frantically looked around. There was no one around. Just the shaking of an unstable ship and the emergency alarm telling everyone to get to an escape pod blaring.

"Where the fuck?" I muttered, slightly out of breath from running.

I debated on holding off and trying to find other crew members, but an explosion on the far side of the room changed my tune.

"Shit!" I yelled.

Hell, there were dozens of escape pods left here and more on the other side of the ship. If there were any other survivors coming along, they'd be fine. I slid down the ladder into the pod, closing the hatch as I went. I strapped myself into a chair and boom, off I went. Where to? Fuck if I know, but it beats staying on an exploding ship. Probably.

The pod shook as it descended, equipment coming off the walls. One of the panels came off the wall and flew about the pod. It's final destination? My face.

* * *

If the gentle movement of the pod was any indication, it would seem we landed in an ocean or a large lake on the planet below. I got myself out of the seat I strapped myself into and just sat against the wall. I've got a massive headache from that damn panel and above all I'm just exhausted. I wonder how many of the crew survived the crash.

"Initializing PDA in Emergency Mode. Bio metrics connected. Life pod systems connected. Performing situational analysis."

I sigh loudly. "I don't fucking care. I'm really not in the mood." I tell the VI's automated voice.

"The Aurora Mining Vessel has suffered catastrophic hull failure. Cause: Unknown. Zero life signs detected in 100 meter range. 3 hours since..."

I sighed again and ran my hand through my hair as the damn VI gave its report. soon my other hand made its way into my hair as well. I took a deep breath and then yanked on my hair. Hard.

"Fuck!" I yelled, at the top of my lungs.

* * *

Hello. Thank you for reading. I hope you found it entertaining. I know it was kind of short, but the title kind of says why: this was just to showcase the crash. And everything that follows will by and large stick to what happens in-game. Meaning I will be playing Subnautica and whatever happens there is going in this story, with a few things of my own design that did not happen in-game.

I don't know how often this will get updated. So don't expected it to happen soon or often. I already have another story up and the only reason I'm writing this one now is because my brain just can't focus on that one at the moment and I'm hoping that if I can get some other ideas that are currently in the way out of the way, I can get back to it. And if anyone reading this has any ideas on how to help with this block I would greatly appreciate it, because its been way too long since I've updated my other story and I really want to get back to it.

Anyway, thank you again for reading and I hope you have a nice day.


	2. Beauty Can Hurt

SubNautic Survival

Chapter 2

Day 1

It feels like I've been sitting here for hours, but I guess it can't have been more than 10 minutes. Maybe 20. I just can't seem to get myself to move. The life pod's VI went on for a minute with its report, but I could't focus on it. Zero. Zero life signs. How could I be the only one lucky enough, or unluckily enough, to live? Why me? There's no way in hell this'll end well. I'm gonna d- 'SMACK'!

My own hand collides with my face. No. I can't think like that. I start thinking like that and I really will die. Ok. Ok, what can I do? I walk to the back of the pod. There should be a- there! A storage unit.

"What do we got?" I say to myself.

I open the unit and see two bottles of water, two nutrition blocks and two flares. Not much. Stretched out it could last me maybe two days, but no more than that. And I seriously doubt I'll be rescued in two days. We'd been on the Aurora for months to get here. I took out my PDA and checked the messages from the VI. I think it said some things about the world we landed on. Here we go!

'Uncharted ocean world.'

'Oxygen nitrogen atmosphere.'

'Water contamination: high.'

Ok, so the worlds mostly water. The air should be breathable. And I'll have to distill the water.

"Damn." I mumbled.

Ok. There's the comm. relay, but that won't be of any use right now, seeing as how it's only for planet-wide use. So, no calling for help, then. I checked out the on board fabricator, testing the virtual display and finding it functional. Finally, I looked up at the top hatch of the escape pod. I was gonna have to go out eventually and it was probably a good idea to see what I was dealing with. I hesitated a minute, but eventually I forced myself up the ladder and all but threw the hatch open. Climbing up to the roof of the pod, I took my first look at this world...and froze.

Water. Everywhere. There wasn't a single land mass in sight. Fuck. My. Life. The Aurora was sitter there in the distance. It looked like it was in pretty rough shape. A portion of the hull was just gone and parts of the ship were me wonder what the hell hit us.

I looked down at the water. It didn't seem to be too deep where I was and there were some kind of smaller fish swimming. After a few minutes of staring I gave myself the same mental shove I used to get out of the life pod.

"Yolo." I mumbled. And jumped. COLD! COLD WATER! COLD WATER! Looking around I found myself captivated by by the fantastical beauty of this place. Everything was bright with color and the fish swimming nearby, both in schools and on their own, had a surprisingly calming effect. Maybe this wasn't gonna be so bad, being trapped here. That is, provided that none of this fantastical beauty doesn't try and kill me, of course.

That being said, mu suits VI claimed that a lot of the fish in the immediate area are not aggressive. Well, let's test that. I saw a little green fish nearby. I call it small, but on second thought it could probably be a meal on its own. It had two huge eyes on either side of its head and, oddly enough, the first thing I thought of was that old rhyme: Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peepers.

Chuckling a bit, I swam over to it, only to have it run (swim) away from me. Pretty quickly at that. I swam after it, but it stayed a good length ahead of me. It was getting a little frustrating and, honestly, a little embarrassing. Just stay still. I said stay still! GET OVER HERE YOU PEEPER MOTHER FUCKER! YES! FINA-FUCKIN-LY!

"Ok, you're coming with me, you little bastard." I told it. "You're gonna be lunch."

* * *

Thankfully the 'little bastard' was edible. And, apparently, plentiful. After my lunch I started, with the VI's help, to go out and gather some useful materials. Mostly some scrap metal from the Aurora that fell from orbit and a type of crystal that the VI said was similar to the quarts that grew on Earth. Speaking of supplies, it might be a good idea to search the Aurora for some later. The hull looked mostly intact so there was a good chance some supplies survived the crash.

When I had all I could carry I decided to head back to the life pod. On the way back I saw some larger fish near what looked to be some kind of kelp vines. One of them was big, green, bulbous and just plain painful to look at, but it didn't look aggressive. Not that I was planing on going over and saying hi or anything. And the other one just had a few too many teeth for my liking.

As I crawled through the bottom hatch of the pod the VI noted high radiation levels around the Aurora. Well, crap. I guess that means I'm not going to the ship. Or maybe I can make something to protect me from the radiation? I don't know. I'll worry about that later. I dropped my inventory into the storage unit, but stopped when I saw a blinking, red light on the Comm Relay.

"That can't be right." I said. That means there's a message waiting, but there's no one on the planet to send a message. Unless...

I pushed the button to be greeted by static. It lasted a good minute before it cut out. "Now that's weird." I mumbled. A message definitely came through, for sure, but something had corrupted the data. What could it have been? This relay was supposed to work planet wide so distance, obviously, wasn't the problem. Maybe the radiation from the Aurora was garbling the message. Wait, does radiation even work like that? Hell, I don't know. I'm just a construction worker, not a damn radiologist!

Sigh. Well, there's nothing I can do now. I grabbed some of the quarts and scrap metal I found. If this really is similar to quarts I should be able to make some glass with it. Couple that with the metal and I should be able to make an oxygen tank or two.

* * *

Now, I'm a 24-year-old man. I've seen a few sunsets in my time, but sunset on this planet was nothing like back home. Here it was breath taking. It was beauty incarnate. The red-orange sun dipping below the horizon gave the sky an almost purple hue. If I didn't have things to do I'd just sit on top of the pod and watch the sun set till nightfall.

Unfortunately, I do have things to do, so I jump back into the water and start swimming. I wanted to go back and check on those kelp vines. They looked pretty thick so they could be useful. As I'm swimming I see something swim by my head, just inside my vision. Damn near gave me a fucking heart attack. Know what it was? A fish. A harmless little fish shaped like a boomerang. I got scared by a damn Boomerang. Ok, in my defense it looked a lot bigger than it really was. Ok? You know what? Come here, Boomerang. I'm eating you for dinner tonight.

After sunset, I finally found the kelp vines. And there were a lot of them. It was practically a forest. The kelp swayed slightly in the water. It was actually kind of creepy. A little further in I notice these big florescent bulbs hanging off of some of the vines. It was getting too dark to really see anything, but I was really to curious to care. Must. Investigate.

They didn't seem to be dangerous. I grabbed a couple of them and decided to come back later for the vines. They were too thick. I'd have to find a way to cut them later. And I don't know what this place is like in the daylight, but it has to be better than after dark. I can barley see two feet in from of me and I can just barley remember which way I came from. Also, you ever get the feeling you was bein watched? Yeah, I've had that feeling since I got here. And I- WHAT JUST TOUCHED ME!? THAT WAS NOT ONE OF THE VINES! I CAN'T SEE A DAMN THING!

Ok. Stay calm. It's no big deal. I was probably just a another Boomerang. It _was_ just another- NOT A BOOMERANG! Hi there. You are one of those things I saw before, aren't you? You look good. You look cool. Kind of like a shark and a crocodile had a baby. Are you circling me? Yeah, of course you are. You're stalking me. I'm gonna call you a Stalker. How do you feel about - THAT'S MY LEG! LET GO OF MY LEG! That's right, let go. OW, MY FUCKING LEG! That's it. I'm calling you a stalker weather you like it or not! God damn it, that HURT!

All right, plan;

1\. Get to life pod.

2\. Make a weapon.

3\. Go back for Creep vines and try and use for some kind of bandages.

Damn it, I'll have to see if there's anything around here I can use for a disinfectant. Damn.

"Stalkers are fucking douche bags." I muttered angrily.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you're enjoying my story! Gonna be honest, this went up a lot sooner than I had expected. And the next chapter for my other story is almost done as well. Did I actually have a good idea? Huh. First time for everything, I guess! I really appreciate you taking your time to read this! Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of your day!


	3. Bad Ideas With Good Results

SubNautic Survival

Bad Ideas With Good Results

Ok. I was able to make an OK first aid kit, surprisingly. I went back to the pod, made a knife with some scrap metal, refined scrap metal, for a blade with a silicon grip. The silicon was made by compressing those seeds with the fabricator till it resembles silicon rubber. Not sure what made me try it, but hey, it worked. After that I went back to Stalker-Asshole Land and cut a few pieces from those vines. A mesh made from those vines and a makeshift disinfectant made a surprisingly good bandage. Might be a good idea to make more, just in case.

I also, unfortunately, should keep of my leg as much as possible for a while. That does, however, give me time to plan. Plan what? Oh yeah. While I was going back and forth from the Creepvine Forest I saw all these big pieces from the Aurora and some lock boxes laying around the ocean floor. Now, it's entirely possible that these lock boxes could contain materials or even some gadgets that could help make my life a little easier. The problem is that these boxes are completely sealed up. _Tight_. And the larger pieces I need to study as well, but they are too big and heavy for me to lug around. So I'm going to need something to scan the outer structure and inner working bits, but also see through the smaller lock boxes.

"So I'll have my work cut out for me." I said.

* * *

Well, that's one headache down. The design took a while, but the actual construction wasn't too bad. I already had most of the materials on hand and the others weren't too far away. I do have another problem now, however. The V.I. (fuck, note to self: think of name for V.I.) has warned me that the Auroras drive core is destabilizing and that cause will, eventually, have the inevitable effect of something called a quantum detonation. I'm sure I don't have to explain that one. So I have made the decision to leave the life pod and create a stable habitat further away from the ship for my own safety.

Now this idea comes with its own share of problems. The first of which is location. Which means more exploration than I've done so far, which is risky. Second point is design. Unlike my usual buildings, this one is gonna be underwater so it'll have to be water tight and be able to take any kind of oceanic pressure. Third point, I don't have habitat builder with me so I'll need to make one. This problem also ties into the last point, materials. Really, though, just two in particular. The first one is titanium, which I'm going to need a cubic butt load of. Though this is a problem, the other material is even worse because I've yet to find anything resembling it. Silver. I'm fairly sure that's the last component of my habitat builder that I'm missing. So i'll have to go searching for that, if it even grows here.

"Fuck it." I said.

Grabbing the last nutrition block and a bottle of water I leave the pod. Putting this off isn't going to change the fact that I need that silver. And I do have an idea of where to look.

* * *

And I'm officially making a note here: I'm fucking terrified. I went out passed the Creepvine Forest into deeper waters and I've been hearing a loud sound reverberating through the water. Like something very, very big and creepy moaning. And I also have a couple new things to put on my ever growing list of 'Fauna That Want To Kill Me':

The first one is a little shit of a fish that's white and red in color that seem to live in small schools. They're kind of fast and hard to avoid, but I've not got bit by them. Yet. And trust me, they have teeth. They _do_ bite. The second one is just menacing as all hell. It's about the same size as a Stalker, but is purple in color and instead of having long, this jaws it has a wide mouth like a cheshire cat. A Cheshire cat with sharp as fuck teeth. Seriously, it's like everything on this planet was designed to kill me! It also has a tendency to dig itself under the sand, briefly, before coming back out.

There is good news, though! All of the danger and almost dying wasn't for nothing! I FOUND SILVER! I almost drowned trying to get it, but who cares ! I've got silver! Now all I have to do is make my way back. I think I've had enough almost dying for one- What is that?

Big. Big, big, really big. I don't know what it is. I don't think I want to know what it is. Actually, I kind of do. It looks slow so I might be OK? Oh, God, that sound!

I swam up so that I was higher than it in the water before I went over. I honestly don't know how to describe this thing. Kind of like some tentacle creature with a chuck of coral growing on its back. It doesn't seem aggressive. Actually, I don't even think he knows I'm here and if he does he doesn't seem to mind. Swimming in front of it doesn't evoke any kind of response. It just keeps swimming. And looking at its ... front? I can't say its face because it doesn't really seem to have one. Nothing I recognize anyway. How the hell does this thing even see!?

Well, at least I know it's friendly or at least indifferent about my presence. I should get back to the life pod. As cool as this guy is, I have a trip to prepare for. So long as nothing goes wrong, anyway.

'Crap. Shouldn't have thought that.' I thought. 'well, at least I didn't say it out loud. Or does thinking it count too? Crap!'

* * *

Habitat Builder, check. Butt load of titanium, check. Glass for a hatch, check. Food and water, check. Blueprints, installed. That's everything, I hope. Equipment, materials and designs have been acquired. Now all there is to do is wait till morning and then go off in search of a decent location.

"Total degradation of Dark Matter Drive Core has reached 85%. Please keep a 1k. distance from Aurora."

Or I could go now. Now sounds good.

* * *

And there is Chapter Three! Now, I couldn't remember what the V.I. actually says at the end of the chapter there. I was going to just go into the game and read the log, but the game updated a few times since I last played and, basically, I lost that save game. So I went back and started playing again and so much has changed! And I only payed one in game day! This game just gets better and better! Anyway, if you noticed the discrepancies, that's why. I hope you are still enjoying the story! Thank you so much for reading!

Ilikebob: Thank you for commenting and truer words were never spoken.


	4. Bad, Good, Repeat

SubNautic Survival

Chapter Four

Bad, Good, Repeat

Grabbing a water bottle out of the escape pods storage unit, I waited for the fabricator to finish curing a couple of peepers I caught. It was still night and dawn was still several hours away. So, yeah, maybe this wasn't the best time to be exploring a very, _very_ ,hostile ocean environment, but it seems like a better idea than staying this close to a space faring vessel that's about to go boom. I grabbed the fish once it was done and left the escape pod.

Aaaaaand it's dark. Like, really fucking dark. This was definitely a bad idea. Fuck my life, right? Cause I need to get this done. Fuck me.

* * *

I've swam past the creep vine forest, it's morning now and I still haven't found a suitable location. And it's starting to seem like the day and night cycle is shorter here than back on earth. I said dawn was still several hours away and its only been half the time I thought it would take. Either that or I've completely lost my concept of time here, which I can't say is impossible.

I looked down into the water below, the bottom just barely within my view. Fuck, that's deep. I wonder if this is far enough away. Probably, but this is kind of dangerous territory. Sand Sharks and those damn Biters are all around, but, maybe, there's a good spot that I just can't see from here. Hmm. Ok, I'll go up, refill my tanks, go down and take a look. That's the plan.

"Seismic readings suggest a quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora's drive core." the V.I. said. "The reactor will reach a super critical state in T- 10, 9-"

That _was_ the plan. Shit! I make a mad break for the surface. I still need air. That's non-negotiable. Fuck! I'd better be far enough away!

"5, 4, 3-"

Oh, for fucks sake! How deep am I?

Just as I broke through the waters surface the V.I.'s voice started breaking with static. A sharp crack and a loud rumbling made me turn around just as the Aurora turned into a massive fireball with another, deafening, bang.

"Oh shit."

I wanted to look away, to try and swim further out and away, but I was frozen. It was like watching a train wreck. You want to look away, but you can't seem to tear your eyes away from the carnage. The shock wave was powerful enough to be felt way out here and large pieces of the ship were torn away, flying through the air, into the ocean. The whole thing didn't last long, maybe a few seconds.

Well, I guess this means I _am_ far enough away.

* * *

Despite the original plan being making a separate habitat _before_ the Aurora explodes, I'm still going to see it through. It's still a good idea, I think. I mean, I can't stay in that cramped escape pod until the rescue squad arrives, if they ever do. It took us years to get this far and I couldn't even imagine how long the prep took. Luckily, I think I've found a good enough spot.

There's a halfway level spot of ocean floor just at the edge of one of the grassy plateaus, the area I found the silver in before with the red grasses and Biter douchbags, next to a drop off. Now, over the edge of the abyss I can barely see something blue and glowing and, along the way down, I can see some smaller fish swimming around. It's definitely something to check out, especially since I'll be setting up shop here. But that'll have to be later, because now I have a habitat to build.

So, Pro-Tip for building a new, underwater habitat on an uncharted planet: MAKE SURE IT HAS POWER! That was the one thing I didn't think of! What the hell kind of construction worker am I!? I've done this for years! How the hell did I forget to add a power source!? (sigh) Fuck me. Now I need to go back to the escape pod, find a solar panel - shit! I don't know how to find this place again! Well, at least that's an easy fix for later. I can just make a beacon when I get back. They're not that hard to make.

Making my way back to the surface, I started making plans in my head. The base wasn't much bigger than the escape pod, but it was a noticeable improvement.

That is, of course, if I can make it back here. Being able to make one isn't the problem. I still have to bring it back here.

The air in my helmet became fresher as I broke the waters surface. Looking up, it seemed like the sun was about to set, so I started making my way back to the shallows. I'll figure something out later. Unless ... I smiled as I looked at the Aurora.

"That might work." I whispered.

* * *

Dear God, that took way too damn long. I guess I did find some other useful stuff, though. I found enough material to construct a usable solar panel blueprint, but I stuck around to gather up materials for my new plan. I'm going to explore the Aurora. The explosion from the drive core caused severe damage to the outer hull on the bow of the ship. Basically blowing it clean to hell, but all that damage gives me my way in. AND I found enough parts to put together a blueprint for a Seamoth. The Seamoth is a one man submarine designed for ocean exploration. Not only will it get me to the bow of the ship, but it will also help me explore greater depths in the ocean without worrying about my suit oxygen levels.

First things first, though. I have to find my way back to the only thing on this underwater rock that I can call home. Now, the thought I had before was that I should be able to use my position to the Aurora to find the general direction I should be going. Hopefully this works because this could easily go wrong. I could easily get lost, which would royally suck. Though, given my luck thus far, either way's fair play.

* * *

And here's the next chapter! Sorry it's a little short and the next one may not be that long either, but there is a reason. The story, believe it or not, will pick up soon. I have plans for the chapter after next. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but those are my thoughts. Anyway, thank you for reading and have a nice day! I'll see you in the next chapter!


	5. This Is A Terrible Idea

SubNautic Survival

Chapter Five

'This had better be fucking worth it.' I thought. 'If not, I just wasted two days and some very valuable materials.'

I was standing on top of my brand new mobile vehicle bay, watching the little drones go off and make my sea moth. It took for fucking ever to gather those materials. It might not have taken so long if I hadn't kept running out of air so fast. The oxygen tanks I made were great, but I was still only able to stay under for a minute or too at most.

A loud splash caught my attention. I looked up to see my sea moth drop into the water a small ways off.

"Woo!"

I jumped off the back of the bay and into the water, swimming over to my new vehicle. 'Ok, even if this was a waste of time, it looks cool as hell!' I thought. 'Now, problem one. How do I get in without flooding the cabin... Oh well. YOLO!'

I yanked open the hatch, fully expecting water to pour into the cabin, but it didn't. The water stayed outside. Stunned, I slowly maneuvered myself through the opening. As soon as I was partway inside gravity dropped me into the pilots seat. Looking back to the hatch, I saw the water still not flooding in.

'Some kind of kinetic barrier, maybe?' I thought. 'Eh, whatever. It's probably best not to question it.'

* * *

Food and water, check. Freshly sharpened knife, check. Welder, check. Spare materials, check. I double checked to make sure everything was in the sea moth before jetting off towards the Aurora. My piloting skills, if I do say so myself, had gotten much better. Ok, slightly better...with only minor improvements notable... Hey, hey, hey! I just started using the damn thing today! Get off me! I just passed the life pod and maneuvered towards the bow of the ship, moving along side of it.

"Captain, incoming message." the V.I. stated.

"Can you play it from here?" I asked. "And stop calling me Captain!"

"Playing message."

The message was little more than static, just like the others, but there were enough words coming through to gather that it was a distress call. And it wasn't automated. "EDI, can you tell me where this came from?"

"The signal seems to be coming from the other side of the Aurora, but I cannot determine its exact location at this time. I will provide and update when further information is acquired, Captain."

I sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me captain?"

'Looks like the Aurora will have to wait.' I thought. 'I have a search and rescue mission to lead.'

"Captain, a large life form has been detected within immediate range." Just as she finished speaking a loud, monstrous noise reverberated through the ocean, enough to shake the sea moth. And enough to chill me to the bone.

"Fantastic." that whisper was all I could manage.

* * *

"Captain, the life form appears hostile. Avoidance is suggested." EDI said.

"Thank you, EDI! I never would've figured that out on my own! How far's the damn life pod!" I shouted over the loud as hell roaring in my ear.

Ok, you may be wondering what you missed. Or not. It may be fairly obvious, but I'll fill you in anyway. I have just launched the worst rescue operation in history. EDI pinpointed the other life pods location, a giant sea monster started chasing me and shows no sign of letting up, and I have to, somehow, get this other survivor into my one man, ONE MAN, submersible and escape previously mentioned sea monster. Yeah, that's my life right now.

"0.9m to escape pod, Captain."

"EDI, stop calling me-" a sudden thought struck me mute. A crazy thought, mind you. "EDI, can you open a comm. link to the life pod?"

"Affirmative. Opening channel."

It took a second, but the other lined, eventually, opened. "Hello!? Please tell me someone can hear me!"

"Yep! Loud and clear, lady!" I shouted.

"Oh, thank God! I ran out of food this morning and I'm almost out of water! I have no idea how I can thank you enough!" she said, excitedly.

I chuckled, nervously. "I wouldn't thank me yet! This isn't gonna be the best rescue in history!"

"What does that mean?"

"Short version!? I'm currently being chased by a giant sea creature that wants me very dead and we have to, somehow, get you into a one man sub without stopping!"

There was a short pause on the other end. "Excuse me?"

* * *

A young woman in her twenties was standing on top of an escape pod about to be 'rescued' by a complete maniac in the most insane way possible. And there was only one thought going through her head. 'This is a terrible idea.'

"There has to be a better way than this." she mumbled to herself. "There's no way this is going to work. We are both going to die."

Before her thoughts could continue, she noticed a small disturbance ion the waters surface that turned into a small craft gliding across the top of the water. Despite her uncertainty of this plan, the woman felt relief at the sight of the craft. Then she noticed something large trailing behind the craft. It seemed long, fast and highly aggressive.

A hatch on the top of the craft swung open. Fear suddenly replacing the relief, the woman readied herself and waited until the craft was just close enough before jumping off of the pod. Fully expecting to hit the water, she was surprised when she landed on the craft. Not wasting any time, she all but threw herself into the craft...and into some guys lap.

"Hey! Watch where you're stepping!" he shouted. "It's already cramped enough in here!"

"Well then, why are you rescuing me in something so small!?" she shouted back. "This is uncomfortable on so many levels!"

"I told you it was a one man sub! Now, hang on! This was hard enough without you in here and I just started learning to use this thing this morning!"

"What!?"

The guy hit a button, closing the hatch, before pulling the craft into a dive and back around towards the Aurora.

"Where are we going!?" the woman yelled. She had heard the creature from on top of her pod, but the sound seemed to be amplified in the water. 'No wonder he was shouting during that call.' she thought.

"There's a spot on the other side of the Aurora that isn't that deep! As big as this thing is, I'm hoping it won't follow us into shallow water!" he yelled.

"Captain, the life form is closing its distance to this vessel."

"I KNOW, EDI!"

The pilot jolted the craft hard left, into the wreck of the Aurora. The roaring from the monster behind us was getting louder. He pulled us into a sharp accent up towards the surface. The craft went sailing through the air and through the exposed beams of the Aurora's outer hull. They were in the air for just a few seconds, but it felt like a few hours to them. As soon as they hit the water, the pilot urged the craft forward, away from the ship and the creature. Said creature's screaming grew fainter as they went.

* * *

As soon as we hit the shallows, I stopped the sub. "EDI, where it is?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"The life form is not in the immediate vicinity, Captain."

All the energy in my body drained out after hearing we were safe. The woman I rescued seemed to relax as well. Now that was the true testament to how tired I was. I had a beautiful woman in my arms and I didn't care. EDI called me captain again and I didn't care. The only thing I cared about right now? We were alive and we just show a mother fuckin' alien sea monster who's boss! This may have been the closest I've ever come to death before, but this was the best day of my life!

* * *

Ok, so I lied. The plan appeared in this chapter. I didn't originally plan it that way, but I figured the only thing I did between this chapter and the last one was gather materials and expand my base. So I just cut that out and started from where I made the sea moth. I hope this was good the way it is.

Also, two more notes:

1\. I have, somehow, lost my save data for Subnautica. Yeah. Pretty pissed. So it may take a while for me to upload this again, because every time I go to play it, or any game for that matter, my computer makes a whiny screechy sound at me continuously. It doesn't do it all the time. Only when I go to do something big, like start a game like this. So I need to get that fixed.

2\. I had a thought and I want your opinion. I am going to start reading this story and posting it on YouTube. Not just this one, but my others as well. So if you'd like to just listen to the story or listen and follow along, check out my channel Game Nation. I really want you guys' opinion on this. I really excited, but also really nervous about this so let me know what you think.

And that's enough of me rambling. I'll see you in the next chapter, everyone!


	6. Introductions

SubNautic Survival

Chapter Six

Once I could feel my limbs again I guided the Seamoth back home. It was a quiet trip, but that was okay. I wasn't confident in my ability to form words just yet anyway. Escaping certain death had a way of doing that to you. My rescuee, on the other hand, was busy admiring the marine life around the sub. Since she hadn't left her escape pod yet, it was probably just as awe inspiring as it was for me. I frowned. 'Wait.' I thought. 'Have I really grown accustomed to this stuff that quick? It's only been a couple of days.'

Eventually we arrived back to my little base. 'A base I'm gonna have to expand sooner than planned with my unexpected roommate.' I thought, sighing.

"You built this?" The woman asked.

I nodded. "Yep. It's not much and I'll definitely have to expand now, but it's sure as hell better than that damn life pod."

"Where did you get the materials for it? Did you have a habitat builder with you during the crash?" She asked. Quite excitedly, as well.

I shook my head. "No, but the escape pod did have a fabricator on board. And as for the materials, I found them. This ocean's full of crafting components similar to the ones we have on earth. And the titanium came from the scrap metal that was blown off of the Aurora." I explained. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'd like to stretch my legs. How about we take this conversation inside?"

* * *

It was small and bare, but the large rooms space was definitely a step up from the cramped life pod. The large, octagonal room only had a table and a lone chair in the center of it with a storage locker in the back and a fabricator on the wall next to it.

'Small, but cozy.' I thought.

My rescuer walked over to the locker and pulled two lumps of metal out of it. He placed them on the floor next to the table, also picking up the builder off of it. Aiming it at the titanium, the builder quickly turned them into a second chair. Once it was finished he dropped the builder on the table. He gestured to the new chair before sitting in the other one across the table. "Make yourself at home, Miss. Since this is likely to _be_ home for an unknown amount of time."

Thanking him, I took the offered seat. "Well, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Rosalie Davis. I was one of the botanists in charge of studying the plant life found on our new, potential, home."

The man across from me chuckled before speaking. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Rose." He started. I wasn't so sure about the instant familiarity, but kept my mouth shut. He may just be like that with everyone. "Name's Nikolai Renkov. Russian born, American raised. I was on one of the construction crews. Specifically the one focusing on residential housing. Basically, I was in charge of making sure we all had places to live once we left the Aurora."

'That explains how he was able to build this habitat so quick. It was his job.' I thought. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but a yawn came out instead. I could feel my face heating as I covered my mouth. "Excuse me." I muttered.

Nikolai chuckled again. "Tired? Bit of an exciting day, I guess."

I nodded. "Indeed. I also haven't been able to sleep very well since the crash."

Nikolai's smile turned rather somber. "Heard that." He muttered. He stood up and went back over to the locker. "Try and get some sleep." He said, grabbing something from the top shelf and tossing it to me. It was an emergency blanket. "Don't have any beds yet. Or any other really comfortable surfaces for that matter, but that's something I've been thinking about changing sooner rather than later. So that blanket and the floor will have to do for now."

"What will you be doing?" I asked, noticing he had grabbed his helmet from the table once again and was heading for the 'door'.

"Got to get some work done while there's some day light left. The day and night cycle here's pretty short, if you haven't noticed." He said, smirking.

I sighed as he left the 'house'. Standing up, I began to unravel the blanket. 'Nikolai Renkov, you are a very strange man.' I thought.

Before I laid down to sleep my curiosity got the better of me. I walked over to the storage locker and looked inside. I had wanted to see what kind of things he had found on this underwater planet. I recognized a lot of the items in the locker, but the one thing I didn't recognize was the order of storage. It didn't look like he threw things in here in random places, but whatever order he used was beyond me.

"Very strange indeed." I muttered.

* * *

 **Hello! Just wanted to say real quick that I have decided not to include most of the new updates of SubNautica in future chapters. I've let this go for long enough that I just don't think I can catch up nor do I really want to. So I'm going to continue with the basic plan I originally had for this story. One or two things from recent updates may make it in, but don't expect too many. Anyhoo! Take care guys! I'll see you next chapter (which will, hopefully, be longer)!**


	7. Expanding

**AN at the bottom!**

* * *

SubNautic Survival

Chapter Seven

Expanding

"Welcome back, Captain."

Sighing, I close the hatch to the Seamoth (which also needs a name). "You know, E.D.I.? I'm already getting tired of telling you to stop calling me that. I mean, why me? I'm a damn construction worker. Why pick me to be Captain?"

No response. Not that I really expected one. I sighed again and swung the Seamoth in a kinda - sorta southwestern (ish) course. "Never mind. Do you still have the coordinates for that landmass?"

"Yes, Captain."

* * *

"Why? Why the fuck do I bother?" I mutter, urging the vessel forward.

The sunlight pouring in the room wasn't particularly bright, but it was enough to wake the young botanist from her exhausted slumber. With a small grunt, the covers are thrown over her head as her head buries into her pillow, not quite ready to wake just yet. Just as she was about to doze off once again when a loud bang made her freeze.

'Wait.' She thought. 'The Aurora crashed. I was rescued from my escape pod. I went to sleep on the floor. With an emergency blanket. Not in a bed with actual covers.'

Slowly peeling the covers off and leaving the bed, Rosalie looked around the room. Her bed, or she was assuming it was going to be hers, was the only thing in the room besides a ladder on the far side. The sunlight was filtering in throught the window on the wall behind the bed. Another bang, along with some muffled cursing, brought her attention back to the ladder. After a seconds heitation, Rosalie climbed the ladder into another room.

This room was also sparse with only a desk and a chair to the right of the ladder. On the far side of the room was an opening that led to yet another room. This room was empty except a ladder on the far side and another doorway to the right.

"How long was I asleep?" she wondered aloud.

"Not that long."

With a small yelp, Rosalie looked down the ladder to see Nikolai looking up at her with a small smirk on his face.

He chuckled and waved for her to come down. "Sorry about that. Come on down and we can have some breakfast."

* * *

Breakfast consisted of a couple of local each.

"It's not much, but it's better than those damn nutrient blocks." Nikolai said. "Everything on that plates edible. The fabricator automatically removes everything not edible from the fish when it cooks it." he explained.

"And it's not contaminated with anything?" Rosalie questioned. "I thought the water showed a high level of contamination of some kind."

Nikolai just nodded. "It does, but I made sure to scan everything after it was cooked and it all checked out. I've been eating the fish since day one and I've yet to drop dead." he finished with a chuckle.

Taking a tenative bite of her fish after watching her fellow strandee dig in, Rosalie was suprised at the pleasent flavor. Synthetic food has become the standard on Earth sue to it being easily made as opposed to actual food like seafood or land animals that take a lot of care and maitenence. This happened long before her birth, so synthetic food was all she had ever known.

A chuckle tore her away from her musings. "What?" she asked, seeing Nikolai grinning at her.

He nodded toward her plate. "First time eating real food?"

"Well, considering I've been in a life pod for a few days..." she grumbled.

Nikolai laughed again. "Hey, my family owns their own ranch. We raise and grow our own food. Synthetic food just can't compare." he nodded back at her plate. "It's gonna get cold if you don't eat."

"How can you afford all of that?" Rosalie questioned after taking another bite. "I researched those practices when I was in school. It's not cheap."

Nikolai just smiled. "No it's not and it's not easy. My parents, my grandparents, etc. have always said that synthetic food was and I quote 'pissing away the senses God gave us'. Dad's words not mine. While I may not be a religious man, I do agree with the principle. We were born with a sense of taste for a reason."

The conversation carried on for a while. When we finished eating Nikolai gave me the 'silver dollar tour' as he put it. The 'kitchen', where we ate, was a single room, like the one from last night. Like her room and the ones on the way to it, it was almost empty. It held a fabricator, the table they ate at, a couple of chairs and a storage locker.

Moving past that was what Nikolai called the plant room. It was probably the most decorated room so far. The walls all held decorative foliage and the room itself contained a large growbed, that was empty for now, and four smaller, individual growing pots that all held a small, growing plant each. Nikolai explained that they were some kind of veegitable that he wanted her to look over and see if they were safe to eat. Which was probaly a good idea.

"Where did you get them?" Rosalie asked.

Nicolai suddenly looked a bit sullen. Considering that was one of the only emotions that she had yet to associate with the man, it wasn't the best response to see. "Southwest of here is a floating island E.D.I. found in one of her scans." he began. "The island itself is beautiful, but there are somekind of large, crab-like creatures on it that are pretty hostile. Nothing to worry too much about, but still. There were a few abandoned habitats set up on the island."

Before Rosalie could question him Nikolai held up a hand. "They were already old and decrepit by the time I got there. They were rusted and falling apart. Aparently it was built by the survivors of another ship that crashed here about ten years ago. I found a few data pads that help explain a few things if you want to look at them later, but yeah. Those bases are where I found the plants."

Rosalie was silent for a moment. "That raises a lot of red flags for me. I'd like to see those data pads later. I'd also like to see the island myself."

Nikolai nodded. "There are still a few plants on the island I want to back for anyway. We can go back in a few days after I've had some rest. A few of this planets days anyway."

Rosalie nodded her agreement, allowing him to complete the tour. The room to the left of the kitchen hall was the storage room Rosalie had passed on her way to the kitchen. Obviously she had seen the plant room on the way, but Nikolai had asked her to wait until the tour.

The room across the other side of the plant room was the most shocking. It only held one thing: A Bioreactor. Basically, a Bioreactor composts plant matter into electrical energy. And from the looks of things, it was already running.

Rosalie turned and gapped at the man next to her. "How?"

Nikolai just shrugged. "Apparently there were several on board the Aurora. All I did was use a scanner to reverse engenier the tech from bits of it I managed to find out in the water. Same thing I did with a lot of the stuff I have here. Once I gathered the neccecary componantes the builder did the rest."

Nikolai shrugged again and left the room, leaving a dumbstruck botanist to follow.

Back in the storage room they once again acended the ladder. "I'm not sure what this room will be. I'm thinking either another storage room or a sitting room or something. We'll see. Any imput you have would be appreciated." he explained to her.

"Right. What about through there?" She asked.

"That is my office and down the ladder is my bedroom. Basically it's a mirror image of your rooms." he said, pointing towards the room Rosalie woke up in. "Now, I've been up a while ao I think I'm gonna get some shut eye. I left those data pads in the storage room if you want to look them over."

Rosalie nodded and smiled. "Alright. Sleep well. Oh, and also...I never did thank you for saving me, even if you almost got me killed at the same time." she said, a grin on her face. The grin turned into a smile quickly. "Still, thank you."

Nikolai mimed tipping an imaginary hat. "Anytime ma'am. If you're ever in anymore trouble you give me holler, you hear?" he said, adopting a very bad western acccent.

"Oh, God. Go to sleep." Rosalie said irritably, but the grin on her face took the heat out of her tone. Nikolai's laughter didn't help.

Rosalie had almost dissappeared into the storage room when she pulled back up into the otop room, still on the ladder. "Nikolai, wait! One more question!"

"Shoot!"

"You said the days and nights here were shorter than on Earth. How much shorter?"

"Oh, that. I actually timed that while you were asleep. The days are only three hours long and the nights are only one."

It took a few seconds for Rosalie's mind to process that.

"Excuse me?"

* * *

 **I'm back and I finally have the urge to write again! It's a glorious feeling! I also finally got back into SubNautica and HOLY SHIT THINGS CHANGED! So many things are different now I was completely thrown for a damn loop! I'm gonna be playing more SubNautica and hopefully be writing more of this as well!**

 **Also, i tried uploading this last night, but the doc manager seemed to be broken last night =( Hopefully it doesn't happen again. If it does I will be ever so slightly pissed...**

 **Also, also, I plan on starting a Harry Potter story in the near future. I don't know when cause I have a shit ton of ideas for what kind of story I want to write, but I guess I'll figure it out eventually!**

 **Anyhoo, that's all I have to say for now! I'll see you all in the next chapter! Bye-Bye!**


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